The Best Man
by Suzie's Q
Summary: Sirius finds someone in James' bed. But it isn't James.


Don't own Harry Potter.

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**The Best Man**  
Summary: Sirius finds someone in James' bed. But it isn't James.  
Characters: Sirius/Lily friendship  
Word Count: 1,354  
Rating: K+

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He rolls in very early that morning - still dressed in the clothes from the night before, although they're wrinkled and quite frankly all over the place, since he slept in them - and makes a whole lot of noise, knocking over the bin in the corner (as if there weren't balls of parchment surrounding it anyway), sending a nightstand flying - a second later, a crash from a broken inkwell wakes the other inhabitants of the dorm. And then he hears it - Remus groaning at being woken so early, Peter's heavy breathing from the fright Sirius had just given him.

And a sigh. A sigh coming from James' bed. A very _feminine _sigh. Then Sirius notices that the curtains around James' bed are drawn, which is something that the boy in question would never bother with. James is an early riser, and he wouldn't have still been in bed, or slept through the amount of noise Sirius has made. But it doesn't matter. James isn't here.

But someone is. And they're in his bed.

He saunters over, a strong idea growing of who this mystery bed-stealer is, and he rips back the curtains, plopping himself down on the end of the bed. He can see a shock of red hair, and thin, pale arms that disappear under the sleeves of one of James' old Quidditch jerseys. Though he'd ever met admit it to anyone, the sight makes him smile.

Lily grumbles, shying away from the light, and pulls the covers up to her chin. After a second or two, she realizes that he's not going to let her go back to sleep, and she pokes her eyes open to glare at him before she sits up, hugging her knees.

"Evening, Evans," he says cheerfully, giving an odd, flamboyant wave.

"Hi," she mumbles, wrinkling her nose in annoyance at him. Sirius notices that her eyes are puffy, but they're not red-rimmed anymore. In fact, he's sure that she was fast asleep before he came in. He wonders how long she's been here. He doesn't have to wonder about whether or not she'd been crying before she fell asleep. Or if she cried herself to sleep. He only has to wonder a little bit about why she's here.

"You don't miss your boyfriend that much, do you?" he says lightly, trying to cheer her up or at least make her smile.

She shrugs. "Well, no. Not really," she mumbles, but she's chewing on her lip and fidgeting with the ends of her hair, and Sirius knows her well enough (and has listened to James talk about her more than enough times) to know that she doesn't really mean that. He raises his eyebrows. "I just... I can't bear it, the thought of him, he's all alone..."

Sirius nods. "McGonagall said she couldn't excuse half the year for that long," he reminds her, and in years to come he'll be proud of the gentle voice that he's adopted, because she really needs someone to be nice to her right now, and since James has been gone, someone needs to look after his girl for him. And frankly, Sirius feels he's the best man for the job, considering he's had the most experience with girls, and also considering that he is so unattracted to Lily is puzzles him.

"No, I know that," she sighs, raking her fingers through her hair. She looks like a lost child. "But I want to see him. He's all alone, and he hates being by himself, and dealing with that..." Sirius just nods, because she looks like she can't stop now that he's started, and he's pretty sure it's in the unspoken, unwritten – but yet still very real, according to James – list of duties Sirius has to perform while James is away, to just listen to her. "And then I don't want to see him, because they're only let us go to the funeral and we're all just waiting for it to happen but the next time I see him will only be because... And that makes me feel guilty."

"Hey, come on," he says soothingly. "He's been ill for a long time. Just because you want to see him doesn't mean you want his dad to die. You just... want to help. I get it."

She sighs again, nodding tiredly. "I was having trouble sleeping," she offers in explanation, fiddling with James' sheets. She looks remarkably small in the bed, and the white of the sheets doesn't look stark against her skin. In fact, it makes her seem even more pale. Sirius wonders how James doesn't spend all his time wondering if Lily's feeling ill. "I thought if I was in here, it might... calm me down."

"And did it?" he inquires politely, but his mind is reeling. James has told him that things have been going great between the two of them. That they were both really happy in the relationship, and having a great time, and all that other coupley stuff people say, and that James says. Especially James. He's also known – probably longer than James himself has known – that James is in love with her. You'd know that from listening to James speak about her for twenty seconds.

And he's also been pretty sure that Lily is really happy, and surprised maybe, by how happy she is. But this is the first moment that it occurs to him that Lily might just be as in love with James as James is with her. He's looking at her, and she looks really down, and Sirius can tell how she's feeling because he feels it too. Lily wants him there – or rather, Lily wants to be with him, so she can help him – and she's staying in his bed because she doesn't know what else to do because maybe she needs him the same way that James needs her.

She nods, the corner of her mouth just twitching up. "A little," she croaks, sighing. "Smells like him." Now he's sure. Not that he's ever doubted that these two could do anything they wanted to, but the possibility of them working out always seemed so slim. Now it doesn't seem slim. Now it seems huge – so huge it's completely eclipsed all other possibilities – because you don't just sneak into the boys' dorm to sleep in your boyfriend's bed just so that his scent can calm you down and help you sleep, when he's not even there, purely because you miss him so much, you just don't. Not unless you're completely and utterly in love with said boyfriend – and Sirius can now state as scientific fact that he is more or less pretty sure that he's right.

He smiles at her, and suddenly he feels this rush of fondness and brotherly affection for the girl. "Yeah, rotten, isn't it?" he jokes, and she cracks a smile, taking a deep breath.

"Wasn't the word I'd have used," she says lightly, resting her head back against the headboard, eyeing him curiously. Sirius' smile spreads – he's never been one hundred per cent sure about Lily, what with that whole one eighty thing, but now he is. He feels happy for the pair of them, instead of just for James. He feels like he's stumbled across something completely unexpected and unprecedented, but sort of perfect in its own way. They just belong together, and the proof is sitting in James' bed, wishing he was there.

"Well, if you can part with his heinous aroma for a few minutes," he remarks, getting to his feet. "I believe it's my duty while Prongs is away to make sure you feed yourself and don't fling yourself off the Astronomy Tower owing to your immense longing for him."

She manages a laugh slightly easier now, and gets to her feet, blinking up at him. "Thanks."

He nods. "No problem, Red." He eyes her for a second, cocking his head to the side, and then grins. "I think I'd better get used to having you around."

Lily's eyes gleam, but she just shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly. "Yeah. Maybe you will."


End file.
